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Two-time Olympic Champion Sang-Hwa Lee (KOR) has announced her retirement from Speed Skating at an emotional press conference in Seoul on May 16, 2019. The 30-year-old Korean sprinter suffered from a persistent chronic knee injury, which has been hampering her for years already. With 36.36 seconds Lee is the current world record holder in the ladies' 500m.

Patrick Roest (NED) was crowned ISU World Allround Speed Skating Champion in Amsterdam in March 2018, with nine-time champion Sven Kramer (NED) finishing fourth. Had the pupil definitely beaten his master? The Dutch team mates crossed swords over the ISU European and the ISU World Allround Speed Skating title again in the 2018/19 season.

Nao Kodaira (JPN) started the 2018/19 Speed Skating season as the lady to beat in the 500m, but Vanessa Herzog (AUT) was up for the challenge. The Japanese sprint queen won the first four 500m races of the ISU World Cup Speed Skating season on home soil in Obihiro and Tomakomai, with her Austrian challenger coming second in all four races. Kodaira and Herzog were gearing up for a season long fascinating battle in the shortest distance.

The Utah Olympic Oval confirmed its name as the fastest ice rink on the planet with six new world records broken during the ISU World Cup Speed Skating Final 2019. In 2020 the iconic venue will host the ISU World Single Distances Speed Skating Championships and currently holds four Ladies' and six current Men's world records.

With less than a year to go, the third edition of the Winter Youth Olympic Games (YOG) will take place from January 9-22, 2020 in Lausanne (SUI), dubbed as the Olympic capital in the world. The Qualification Systems for all three ISU disciplines (Figure Skating, Speed Skating and Short Track Speed Skating) have been approved by the IOC Executive Board.

Following the decision of the ISU Council, the ISU is pleased to announce the dates and locations for the ISU World Cup Speed Skating Series 2019/20 and the ISU Junior World Cup Speed Skating series 2019/20.

The ISU has been made aware of a statement published on March 20 by All-That Sports, and subsequently by the Korea Skating Union on March 21 about an incident which happened between Ms. Mariah Bell and Ms. Eun Soo Lim, during their practice on March 20 at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships.

During its latest meeting which took place on March 17-18, 2019 in Tokyo (JPN) the ISU Council decided to provisionally allot the ISU European Short Track Speed Skating Championships 2020 to Debrecen (HUN) which will be held on January 24-26, 2020.

Miho Takagi (JPN) broke the 1:50 barrier in the Ladies’ 1500m on Sunday. Nao Kodaira (JPN) won the second 500m at the World Cup Final in Salt Lake City, and Irene Schouten (NED) surprised herself to win the Mass Start event. In the men's tournament, Japan won two gold medals , Tatsuya Shinhama (JPN) won the 500m and Ryosuke Tsuchiya (JPN) took his first individual World Cup gold in the Mass Start. Kjeld Nuis (NED) skated two world records.

At age twenty Tingyu Gao (CHN) claimed bronze in the 500m at the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games and became the first Chinese man to win an Olympic medal in Speed Skating. Although he still has a long career ahead of him, the youngster aims to be at the top of his game for the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games and takes a philosophical approach: "Success is a journey, not a destination."

Miho Takagi (JPN) broke the magic 1:50 barrier in the Ladies’ 1500m on Sunday at the World Cup Final in Salt Lake City. The Japanese ace outskated World Champion Ireen Wüst (NED) in the final pairing and finished in 1:49.83. Nao Kodaira (JPN) won the second 500m, and Irene Schouten (NED) surprised herself to win the concluding Mass Start event.